Anarchy Reigns Preview for Xbox 360

Anarchy Reigns Preview

Wanna destroy the passerby?

This includes everything from character design to environmental design. While the game follows the basic format of traditional beat 'em ups, introduced at various points during the fights are ATEs or Action Trigger Events. These are giant, randomly-triggered cinematic events that change the landscape, creating anything from tsunamis to black holes that suck you in and transport you to another area of the map. You'll also have to deal with planes that carpet bomb the area, and enormous blades that pop up and slice up anything in range.

The demo we were shown portrayed a seven-player fight taking place in the city of Altanbra, in a post-apocalyptic future where human survival has depended on the development of nano machines. The first few minutes of fighting found brawlers being sawed in half with a chainsaw to a soundtrack of up-beat tunes, followed swiftly by one of the game's ATEs. In this case it was a collapsing bridge that begins to crumble into the city, creating a second and bigger threat for you to worry about beyond those other players. A few minutes later we see another, the black hole this time. They pop up continuously and randomly until the end of the match.

Duels provide some additional variety to the action. They're triggered by interacting with certain objects, which cause two players to be sucked out of the city and into a separate ring where the winner receives a special ability - although what this consisted of was left vague during the demo. Anarchy also incorporates multiplayer co-op, which from what we saw looked like a basic interpretation of Horde Mode, with increasingly difficult waves of enemies flung at your characters.

Beyond the multiplayer focus there's a nugget of a story mode that has you controlling Jack, another residual character from MadWorld, who this time around is a cyborg and part of a police-like group called the Chasers. The remaining characters from multiplayer take the role of Jack's adversaries, while Jack takes on missions around the city using his trusty chainsaw. The team remained tight-lipped on many of the specific details, but the crossover with previous Platinum material is the undeniable draw. It's too early to tell how well Anarchy Reigns individualises itself from other beat 'em ups but the game certainly remains very loyal to the stylistic traditions of Platinum's last few titles. Let's hope it lives up to their quality, too.